what would you do

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ilikespe

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Let's say you are not sure how you did on pe and have new job offer. Would you wait for pe results and not takejob in case retake or ttake the job?

 
what does one have to do with the other? you're not being very clear.

 
Well new job means less time to study. You are on probation period snd you would have to learn new things in new job while study for pe.

 
I'm sure that you can find time to do both. There are ppl on this site who have had kids and still preped for the exam and passed. You just need to figure out who to best delegate your time.

 
Do you need the PE for the job?

In this economy, take the job offer.

If you need to, you'll have to find time to re study. I studied for the eit after being out of school for 8 years with a full time job, wife, daughter, and volunteer work. I passed and I'm not the smartest guy on the block.

^IMHO

 
I don't need for job but to start my consulting I would in the event of no job. Also there are three tries for pe.

 
Look, I think you can juggle both. I have successfully prepared for the PE and had a child at the same time. It took some drive on my part, but if the PE is something that you really want which I presume it is, then you can surely find a way to make it happen. What worked for me was to study in the evenings after everyone in my has had gone to bed, every night from 8 pm to around 11 pm. I studied on that schedule from June/July until the exam date. Maybe studying evenings will be the best option for you considering the requirements of the new job.

 
Most states that have limits have them in order wether you take them or not so check on that....

I.e. if you fail your first try and skip the next exam offering then you only have 4 tries left (in GA)

Normal people need 100 hours if studying to pass the exam... Dumb people with 3 kids and a wife going to school while I was taking the PE exam needed 200 hours....

You can swing it...

 
Most states that have limits have them in order wether you take them or not so check on that....

I.e. if you fail your first try and skip the next exam offering then you only have 4 tries left (in GA)

Normal people need 100 hours if studying to pass the exam... Dumb people with 3 kids and a wife going to school while I was taking the PE exam needed 200 hours....

You can swing it...
I fall under the dumb category myself

 
I have got a sick feeling. I don't know if I passed or not just like everyone else, but this was my third attempt in the state of Arkansas. I really hope that things improved. I had not studied economics and was very poor at the NEC stuff before the first two exams. I also did not have a clue how to do lighting calculations. Hopefully, I will pass. The last time I failed I had 47 correct responses. Nine more correct would give me a 70%. I can only hope and wait, and wait, and wait.

 
Boys-- I would take the job, irrespective if you have/have not passed the PE exam. As was stated earlier, if the PE exam is important, you will find the time, irrespective of a new job, baby, house, location or spouse!

If the job is better than you have, take it. If you are offered the job, take it. Sure, there is going to be a learning curve, however, you can do the new job as well as study for the PE exam. The next test is in October, then April. Perhaps the right answer is to plan on taking it in April, if you have to retake it. That gives you 11 months to prepare.

There is no reason to continue to take the exam and fail-- take it once and be done with it. That is my mantra-- review the NCEES elements of examination on the NCEES web site, be confident and comfortable with each element, know how to work all of the problems associated with each element and then nail the exam. Remember, the exam is trying to ascertain the "minimally competent" engineer-- this is the C- student. The questions are designed to be 6 minute questions-- some are longer, some are shorter, some you can answer by inspection, given that you know and understand the subject matter. Knowing and understanding the subject matter is a hell of lot more important than trying to get 55 questions right through the hope and pray method. Get all 80 right and then there is no "hope and pray"--- you have done it and done it successfully.

You can do this-- this is not as complicated as you may envision it, however, you do need to know the elements of examination. No, you don't need 400 books or reference manuals either. Get 4-5 good reference manuals for your discipline, know and understand them well and go for it.

Good Luck.

 
Boys-- I would take the job, irrespective if you have/have not passed the PE exam. As was stated earlier, if the PE exam is important, you will find the time, irrespective of a new job, baby, house, location or spouse!

If the job is better than you have, take it. If you are offered the job, take it. Sure, there is going to be a learning curve, however, you can do the new job as well as study for the PE exam. The next test is in October, then April. Perhaps the right answer is to plan on taking it in April, if you have to retake it. That gives you 11 months to prepare.

There is no reason to continue to take the exam and fail-- take it once and be done with it. That is my mantra-- review the NCEES elements of examination on the NCEES web site, be confident and comfortable with each element, know how to work all of the problems associated with each element and then nail the exam. Remember, the exam is trying to ascertain the "minimally competent" engineer-- this is the C- student. The questions are designed to be 6 minute questions-- some are longer, some are shorter, some you can answer by inspection, given that you know and understand the subject matter. Knowing and understanding the subject matter is a hell of lot more important than trying to get 55 questions right through the hope and pray method. Get all 80 right and then there is no "hope and pray"--- you have done it and done it successfully.

You can do this-- this is not as complicated as you may envision it, however, you do need to know the elements of examination. No, you don't need 400 books or reference manuals either. Get 4-5 good reference manuals for your discipline, know and understand them well and go for it.

Good Luck.
This, my friend, is sound and relevant advice.

 
Hungryguy,

I'm not sure most of the people responding to this post truly understand what you're saying. I get it.....basically if you don't pass the exam and take the job offer, then you'll have a probation period on the job in which you'll want to dedicate all of your free time learning your job so that you don't get fired. On the other hand, you have a limited number of times you can take the exam so you can't just halfway study and hope for the best.

To me, Solomonb has the best advice.....if you fail, plan to take the exam in April. That gives you plenty of time to learn the new gig and then study for the exam later in the year or by January next year. It sounds like the pe isn't necessary for the job, but more of a personal goal for your consulting business. So, take the job (if you want it) and then just wait for the results. Keep in mind, you may have passed it and then this becomes a moot point.

 
Bhook, I think we all get it, we just don't think it is worth stressing about. Many of us took on new jobs, raised kids, conducted combat operations on foreign soil, and still figured out how to pass the exam. We aren't unaware of his strife, just unimpressed with it.

 
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Hungryguy,

I'm not sure most of the people responding to this post truly understand what you're saying. I get it.....basically if you don't pass the exam and take the job offer, then you'll have a probation period on the job in which you'll want to dedicate all of your free time learning your job so that you don't get fired. On the other hand, you have a limited number of times you can take the exam so you can't just halfway study and hope for the best.


Is he taking a job in a completely different industry or discipline? Otherwise, I don't see the need to spend much time after work learning the new job. That's what work hours are for.

I went into a completely different industry a couple of years ago and almost had to learn everything from scratch (process, terminology, formulas, and general company procedures). I think there were only 2 or 3 times that I took something home with me to study or understand better. The rest of my learning was done while I was at work.

 
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